MUMC Team Member Honored by Medical College of Georgia

(April 7, 2009) - Patrick Booton, a radiation oncology
physicist at Memorial University Medical Center (MUMC), has been
named a Distinguished Alumnus of the Nuclear Medicine Technology
program at the Medical College of Georgia. Booton graduated from
the program in 1984 and went on to earn a master's degree in
radiological physics from Emory University. He has been a Team
Member at MUMC for more than 20 years. Booton uses technology and
science to plan radiation treatment for people with cancer. He is a
two-time cancer survivor himself and is an active fundraiser and
supporter of cancer programs at the Curtis and Elizabeth Cancer
Institute at MUMC. "My battle with cancer is what got me interested
in nuclear medicine. It was the strong influence of the medical
physics professors in the program that led me to pursue my master's
degree," said Booton. He received a Georgia Medical Society Health
Care Hero Award in 2005 and the Curtis and Elizabeth Anderson
Cancer Institute Champion of Cancer Survivorship Award in 2007. In
addition to doing radiation treatment planning, Booton is MUMC's
radiation safety and laser safety officer and is an instructor at
Mercer University School of Medicine. This year marks the 40th
anniversary of the Nuclear Medicine Technology program at the
Medical College of Georgia. Booton will be honored at a dinner in
Augusta on April 24. Memorial University Medical Center is a
two-state healthcare organization serving a 35-county area in
southeast Georgia and southern South Carolina. The system includes
its flagship hospital, a 530-bed academic medical center; Memorial
primary
and specialty care physician networks; a major medical
education program; business and
industry services; and NurseOne,
a 24-hour call center.